Infant feeding means

ABSTRACT

The present invention comprises an infant feeding means, including a bladder portion provided with handle ears operable to fasten said infant feeding means to garments and the like; an entranceway provided at the uppermost end of said bladder having a closure means disposed at the mouth of said entranceway operable to detachably close said entranceway; and a meshed exitway operable to permit the passage of small particles of suitable food, which a small infant can safely ingest, while retaining larger pieces of food; both said bladder and said meshed exitway being made of materials which are firm but resilient.

United States Patent 1191 Endrody 1 INFANT FEEDING MEANS [76] Inventor: Eugene Sandor Endrody, 36

Kootenay Street, Kitimat, British Columbia, Canada [22] Filed: Aug. 16, 1971 [21] Appl. No.: 171,826

[52] US. Cl. 128/252 [51] Int. Cl. A61j 11/00 [58] Field of Search 128/252, 359, 360, 128/222, 223

[5 6] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,610,248 10/1971 Davidson 128/222 X 2,824,561 2/1958 Mueller 128/252 2,612,165 9/1952 Szuderski 128/360 FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 536,196 5/1941 Great Britain 1. 128/360 1451 July 3, 1973.

1,120,990 6/1956 France 128/359 Primary Examiner-Richard A. Gaudet Assistant Examiner-J. Yasko Attorney-John W. Kraft [57] ABSTRACT The present invention comprises an infant feeding means, including a bladder portion provided with handle ears operable to fasten said infant feeding means to garments and the like; an entranceway provided at the uppermost end of said bladder having a closure means disposed at the mouth of said entranceway operable to detachably close said entranceway; and a meshed exitway operable to permit the passage of small particles of suitable. food, which a small infant can safely ingest, while retaining larger pieces of food; both said bladder and said meshed exitway being made of materials which are firm but resilient.

l Claims, 6 Drawing Figures PATENIEUJUL3 I915 3.742.950

U DOD 'UDCIDI'JDCIDDD FIG. 6

EUGENE s. ENDRODY mvswroa INFANT FEEDING MEANS FIELD OF INVENTION The present invention relates to infant feeding means and more particularly to infant feeding means operable to permit feeding of pieces of food, such as fruits, vegetables, or the like, and as an aid to the teething process.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE PRIOR ART As commonly known in the art, means operable to permit teething by small infants have included various types of firm resilient toys. These characteristically do not have any nutritional value for the infant. Feeding means intended for feeding more solid types of foods have been largely restricted to means controlled by another person, such as spoons and specially configured bowls. All require that food used in these devices be pulverized, few permit the use of raw foods.

Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide means operable to permit feeding of foods, such as fruits, including apples, pears, and watermelon, vegetables, and the like, in their natural state in small particles which a small infant may safely ingest, and as in aid to the teething process.

A further object of this invention is to provide means which may be readily cleaned.

These and other objects shall become apparent from the description following, it being understood that modifications may be made without affecting the teachings of the invention here set out.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Generally, the present invention comprises an infant feeding means, including a bladder portion provided with handle ears operable to fasten said infant feeding means to garments and the like; an entranceway provided at the uppermost end of said bladder having a closure means disposed at the mouth of said entranceway operable to detachably close said entranceway; and a meshed exitway operable to permit the passage of small particles of suitable food, which a small infant can safely ingest, while retaining larger pieces of food; both said bladder and said meshed exitway being made of materials which are firm but resilient.

A more thorough and comprehensive understanding may be had from the detailed description of the preferred embodiment when read in connection with the drawings forming a part of this specification.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a front elevational view of the infant feeding means of the present invention showing to advantage the bladder and mesh portions thereof.

FIG. 2 is a side elevational view of this invention showing the bladder with the upper portion ofone of the terminal walls partially removed and the bladder closure means in the expanded open configuration, and showing the baffle means provided on the inner walls of the bladder portion.

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary cross-sectional view of the mesh portion taken substantially along lines 3-3 of the FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 is a bottom plan view of a further embodiment of the present invention showing the exitway means disposed at the bottom of the bladder portion.

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view taken substantially along lines 5-5 of the FIG. 4 of the bladder portion.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of the mesh bag member of the further embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring now to the drawings and more particularly to the FIGS. 1 and 2, the infant feeding means of the present invention is shown to advantage and identified by the numeral 10. The infant feeding means 10 includes a bladder portion 11 and meshed exitway assembly 12 distally disposed about the lowermost terminal end of the bladder 11. In operation pieces of any of a variety of foods, such as fruits, including apples, pears, and watermelon, vegetables, and the like, may be inserted into the feeding means 10; and a small infant may feed himself foods in their natural state. That is to say that the infants teething on the feeding means 10 will tend to pulverize the food, and the meshed exitway l2 will-operably permit the passage of only small food particles which the infant can safely ingest. The bladder may be made of any of a number of materials, such as plastic, which are firm to permit an infant to repeatedly bite the feeding means 10, resilient to facilitate pulverization of the food carried in the feeding means 10 in response to the infants mastication, and have a smooth finish to protect the infants gums and mouth and to facilitate easy cleaning.

The bladder 11 is provided distally from its uppermost terminal end with an entranceway 13. The entranceway 13 is provided with a pair of substantially identical handle ears I4 and 14', one each provided at the front and rear sides at the uppermost terminal end of the bladder 11. In practice it has been found to advantage to provide a centrally disposed hole 15 in the ears l4 and 14 operable to permit detachable fastening, by a means such as a safety pin, of the feeding means 10 to the infants garments and the like. The entranceway 13 may also be provided with a selectively engageable closure means 16 disposed in the entranceway 13. The closure means 16 may comprise a tongue 17 and detachably engage a socket 18. The closure means 16 may be selectively fastened by pressing on the outer walls of the bladder 1 1 at a point corresponding to a location of the tongue 17 and socket 18. The means 16 may be unfastened by pulling the ears 14 and 14 apart.

The inner walls of the bladder 11 may be provided with smooth walls, as shown in the FIG. 6, or may be provided with baffle means 19, as shown in the FIG. 2, operable to direct the food material carried in the feeding means 10 downwardly toward the meshed exitway 12. The baffle means 19 may include a multiplicity of projections molded as a unit with the bladder 11-.

The meshed exitway 12 includes a resilient lattice disposed around the lower terminal end on the bladder 1 1. As shown to advantage in the FIGS. 1 and 3, the lattice 20 is formed of a multiplicity of rectilinearly and transversely disposed cords 21 and 22 which may be made of resilient smooth material operable to protect the gums and mouth of the infant. The lattice 20 is configured to permit passage of only small particles, which a small infant can safely ingest, while retaining larger food pieces.

Referring now to the FIGS. 4, 5, and 6, a further embodiment of the present invention includes an exitway assembly 12 having a plurality of holes 23 disposed-at the lowermost terminal end of the bladder 11 and a flexible meshed sack 24. As shown in the FIG. 6, the sack 24 may be provided with a resilient mouth 25 perable to permit filling of the sack with the food pieces. The configuration of the mesh of the sack 24 must be operable to permit passage of smaller particles of food, while retaining larger pieces of food. in operation the sack 24 may be filled with pieces of food and inserted into the bladder 11 through the entranceway 13. The closure means 16 may be fastened, and the infant feeding means may be employed.

Having thus described in detail a preferred apparatus which embodies the concepts and principles of the invention and which accomplishes the various objects, purposes and aims thereof, it is to be appreciated and will be apparent to those skilled in the art that many physical changes could be made in the apparatus without altering the inventive concepts and principles embodied therein. Hence, it is intended that the scope of the invention be limited only to the extent indicated in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. An infant feeding means including a bladder portion having handle-like ears, an entranceway at the upper rnost end of said bladder including a closure means being operable to selectively close said entranceway, a meshed exitway disposed at the lowermost portion of said bladder being operable to permit the passage of selected particles of food while retaining larger food pieces, a plurality of baffle means in said bladder portion being operable to direct food material carried in said infant feeding means downwardly toward said exit- I of food pieces and retention of said food in said sack 

1. An infant feeding means including a bladder portion having handle-like ears, an entranceway at the uppermost end of said bladder including a closure means being operable to selectively close said entranceway, a meshed exitway disposed at the lowermost portion of said bladder being operable to permit the passage of selected particles of food while retaining larger food pieces, a plurality of baffle means in said bladder portion being operable to direct food material carried in said infant feeding means downwardly toward said exitway.
 2. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said meshed exitway comprises a lattice formed of a multiplicity of cords suitably disposed on the bladder.
 3. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said meshed exitway comprises a plurality of holes disposed at the lowermost terminal end of said bladder; and a meshed sack operable to be inserted into said bladder.
 4. The apparatus of claim 3 including said meshed sack provided with a resilient mouth at the uppermost terminal end of said sack operable to permit insertion of food pieces and retention of said food in said sack. 